Meet Our Intern - Harsh Patel

Before I started college I knew that I wanted to complete an internship before graduation. After multiple interviews, I was selected by the IN State Personnel Department (SPD) for their Spring Internship position. I knew that it would be an amazing experience because SPD helps the governor's office and state agencies to effectively achieve their stated goals and objectives by delivering integrated Human Resource services. The people working at SPD make it possible by establishing and nurturing an organizational culture rooted in values and core competencies like teamwork, integrity, and innovation.

Every day when I walk to SPD at the Government building located in downtown Indianapolis, I see the energy among state employees- to serve their state and make their agency as efficient as possible. SPD is situated right next to the State Capitol building and walking here in the beautiful Government Center building makes me feel energetic, special, and empowered. It’s a great downtown location. And did I tell you why I chose SPD? Because it has achieved tremendous efficiency by centralizing and innovating itself; it has embraced changes according to time and needs that you might not even find in private sector. In 2011, Indiana State employed the fewest employees per capita when compared to any other state in US. This a big change with approximately 30,000 employees SPD manages, and every day, I learn here how they made it possible, and still trying to make it even more efficient. My internship is unpaid but my experience here is invaluable. There are many motivating colleagues who are always here to help me learn and make the most of my experience. They take time out of their busy schedule and give me hands-on-training with HR tasks. These are the most important lessons I’m learning in my HR career. Right on my first day of orientation, I got the chance to meet various department directors that handle many things from hiring to employee relations. Where else would you find such an opportunity to network and learn from leaders who have years of experience? These relationships developed during my internship will always help me succeed in the future.

In my opinion, this real world experience that I am gaining through my internship with SPD certainly increases my chances of obtaining employment after graduating. Throughout my internship I will gain HR skills and training, vast networking opportunities, and the ability to list my experience and my accomplishments on my resume. Every day I am learning new things as my internship is well planned to expose me to different departments/ functions of HR. It will help me identify my true passion and interest within HR, which will certainly help me launch my career in the right direction. So far my internship is great and I’m excited every single day to come to work to learn new things.

Thank you!

Contributed by: Harsh Patel, HR Intern